Black Mesa Post completion spoilers
Welp, that's Black Mesa completed! Holy crap. That was... genuinely good.
Xen is entirely unrecognisable from its original incarnation in Half Life 1.
For a start it's actually goddamn fun. and MUCH easier to navigate and know what you're doing.
The gonarch battle is ... not just a boss fight. There's like, an entire CHAPTER dedicated to being hunted by, Hunting in return, and trying to fight it/escape it, before you finally get to its climactic battle.
Black Mesa Post completion spoilers
Despite some visual glitches and the fact that the latter half (Interloper onwards) is brutally hard even on easy mode (seriously yikes!!), plus some occasional crashes and hitches in performance, it runs really well and looks incredible!
The Nihilanth boss fight is... WAY more goddamn epic, way more thematic too! It was actually FUN as opposed to an exercise in abject frustration and lack of feedback.
Black Mesa Post completion spoilers
Crowbar Collective clearly learned all the lessons of recent game design when remaking Half Life 1. Bits that were previously like "ah jeez what the fuck do I do here!?" are a lot more intuitive. hell, Xen as a whole is WAY easier to navigate and know what you're meant to be doing, and I love how much character they give the Vortigaunts despite not understanding a word they say.
Black Mesa Post completion spoilers
Final thoughts? Black Mesa is THE way to play Halflife. fuck the original, just play Black Mesa, it's a lot better than Half Life 1. There's been a few cuts here and there but honestly I think the game is a perfect length now. Xen was a very long segment originally but much of that was literally wandering around lost as fuck because it was dull and boring and ugly and confusing.
Xen in Black Mesa is beautiful and eerie and creepy and fantastically laid out!
Black Mesa Post completion spoilers
Also plenty of little bits of environmental storytelling, that I deeply appreciate. It was absolutely worth the wait. Job well done for Crowbar Collective!
